Advances in biotechnology have enabled the generation of plants which express recombinant proteins. Thus, plants can be engineered to overproduce a variety of polypeptides with desirable qualities. Such polypeptide can include enzymes which produce secondary metabolites, proteins with medicinal or pharmaceutical properties, and proteins which endow the plants with new traits, for example, resistance to diseases, pathogens, and environmental conditions.
Given the vulnerability of agricultural crops to damage by insects, and other pests and pathogens, the ability to provide additional protective means and agents is of considerable importance. Moreover, traditional breeding techniques have identified plant lines with Mendelian traits endowing resistance to pests and pathogens. Modern molecular biological techniques can now be applied to isolate the critical nucleic acids and proteins with these properties in order to enhance the resistance of more sensitive plants or to antagonize the pests and pathogens in a variety of scenarios.